


Enough

by AustinB



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 18:53:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4030834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AustinB/pseuds/AustinB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her heart beats stronger, louder. For him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from anon: from matt's perspective about how without realizing he kept Karen at a distance and how his feelings changed for her once he let her in.

He’s not sure what’s different. Or when it happened.

But his ears perk at the sound of her laugh; musical, like the tinkling of ice cubes in a glass. He thought it was just his relief after the nightmare with Fisk was over, but there’s still much more work to be done on the streets, and the blissful feeling hasn’t dissipated.

He’s standing at Josie’s bar (whatever is on the barstool to his right doesn’t bear thinking about) and Karen is at his left elbow, Foggy next to her. They’re having a serious discussion about something absurd and trying to make the other laugh. Whoever breaks first loses.

Matt isn’t listening to the conversation, though. He’s listening to Karen trying not to laugh. He can feel the vibrations of her shoulders shaking through the air. She tosses her head at something stupid Foggy says and the ends of her hair brush over the back of his hand where it rests atop his cane. He’s reminded suddenly of sunshine. He can almost see it, feel the warmth on his face. A bright summer day at a baseball diamond when he was 8 years old.

Karen elbows him playfully in the stomach.

“Matt, back me up,” she demands.

“Whatever Karen said,” he agrees.

“See, I told you!” she exclaims over Foggy’s arguments.

* * *

“Remember when you wouldn’t answer my calls?” Foggy asks, three drinks in, when Karen steps away.

“No. I don’t remember that at all,” he says flatly and Foggy smacks his arm, laughing. Matt answers now, even if it’s just to say he’s getting stitches and will call back.

But he remembers a time when the only person he had in the world was Foggy.

Not that Foggy isn’t enough. But. 

It isn’t enough.

Karen carefully places three full glasses of beer on the table.

“I thought you were going to the bathroom,” Foggy says.

“I did. And then I got these. Multitasking,” she says, pushing the glasses in front of them.

* * *

Even when he’s concentrating hard on the work in front of him, he can hear her heart beating. The sound of her breath always at the edge of his awareness, like he can’t bear to lose track of her. It makes him feel like she’s closer than she is; like she’s right next to him, close enough to touch.

“Karen,” he says. She looks up when he says her name, no matter what she’s doing. Her heart doesn’t quicken, but it beats stronger, louder. For him.

He says her name sometimes, when he doesn’t really need to, just to hear that catch in her pulse. Just to have her attention to himself for a moment. He has an arsenal of excuses, mostly thin, to drop at a moment’s notice, when he’s feeling wrung out and needs something he can’t name.

“Karen,” he says.

* * *

Karen brings pastries to the office sometimes. Foggy gasps like a child each and every time he comes in and sees the white and red box sitting on her desk.

She makes them go to street festivals and parades with her. She’d been tentative about it the first time, but the three of them had such a fun day she’s taken it as a precedent.

“You’re not going to make me go by myself,” she says to Foggy and “You’re not going to make me go with Foggy,” to Matt.

She straightens his tie when it’s already straight, reminds him that it’s lunchtime, looks up at him when he says her name, heartbeat catching and he knows.

He knows.

* * *

It’s not usually distracting. It’s soothing, the even sound of her heart beating behind the quiet noises of the office and the streets below.

But today the sounds don’t make her feel closer. Today, it reminds him how far apart they are, even still. Even after all the times she fussed over his cuts and bruises, all the times he almost told her, just blurted it out as she shoved a package of frozen peas into his hand. He’d been so long without it that he hadn’t realized how desperately he missed it.

Today it isn’t enough. He moves to stand in the doorway of his office.

“Karen,” he says. She looks up. Her heart beats stronger, louder.

It’s almost like a drug. The feeling is immediate; warm sunshine on his face, a clear April day. The thin excuse that had been rattling around at the back of his mind floats away on the breeze.

“Yeah?” she prompts.

“Uh.” We’re out of coffee. How’s my hair. Can you grab me a file. What’s that guy’s number again. A million excuses, and he’s already used them all. If he started recycling them, would she notice?

“I’ll wait,” she says teasingly. He huffs a laugh, rubs the back of his neck with one hand.

He settles on “I’m glad,” his mind searching for a relatively safe explanation for the bizarre interruption. He could go on and on these days about the things he’s glad for.

Turns out he doesn’t have to.

“Me too,” she says. 

He smiles, and his heart beats stronger, louder.

**Author's Note:**

> PS I wrote a book called Nautical Miles, an action-packed high-seas romantic adventure, available on Amazon. Get it here, and don't forget to leave an honest review!  
> http://amzn.to/1OzIZHZ


End file.
